A burnt car is seen at the site of a suicide car bomb attack of a wedding in the town of Ameriyat Falluja, Iraq November 18, 2016. REUTERS/Stringer

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - A suicide bomber detonated a car laden with explosives at a wedding in a Sunni town west of Baghdad on Thursday, killing 12 and wounding 35, police sources said.

The attack appeared to have targeted Sunni provincial officials opposed to Islamic State who were attending the wedding in the town of Ameriyat Falluja, they said.

The ultra-hardline Sunni group has been losing territory over the past year and faces a big battle to hold the city of Mosul in the north, but the attack shows it retains the ability to strike across Iraq, even in central areas near the capital.